Romain Grosjean: “I was there and then he turned in”

Opening lap, just before collision between Grosjean and Palmer. Credit: Andy Hone/LAT Images

Romain Grosjean became the latest victim of turn two in Sochi as a collision between him and Jolyon Palmer under braking marked the end to his Russian Grand Prix.

The Frenchman attempted to claim the inside line but Palmer turned in and left no room for the Haas F1 Team’s VF-17.

“We had a great start and I was on the inside of Palmer under braking,” he said. “I don’t know why he turned in.

“I was there and then he turned in. I tried to get as much as I could on the apex, but he just hit me, spun and came back and hit me again.”

The second half to the incident, during which the Haas became entangled with the R.S.17 before being catapulted through the air and into the barrier, caused extensive and critical damage to Grosjean’s car. This was disappointing as he had wished to use the race as a further testing period to try to understand the issues he had faced over the weekend.

Instead they will arrive in Barcelona without much of an inkling as to what went wrong.

“The car was badly damaged and our race was over,” he continued. “I was full of hope that we could understand what was going on over the weekend, get some more mileage and understand things so we can perform at the next race.

“Though we were maybe not going to score points today, it’s always good to be able to see what we could do.”